MTV teams up with Spotify to deliver music to apps and sites

MTV may not be playing as many music videos as it used to, but the network definitely wants to be where music is happening — and nowadays, that’s online. MTV’s parent Viacom just announced a partnership with Spotify that will bring tunes and playlists from the music service to the apps and websites of MTV, VH1 and CMT.

The integration will go live later this fall, and will also involve MTV building playlists for Spotify that will be available to everyone on the music service (think the hits of Jersey Shore), with 150 playlists available at any given time. This focus on playlists could be seen as an answer to Beats, the music service that was recently purchased by Apple and that has made curated playlists one of its key differentiators. Then again, subscription music services have featured playlists from music magazines and brands for a long time, and it doesn’t really seem to have made a difference in convincing users of the idea of music subscriptions.

The integration of music directly into Viacom’s mobile apps could be a bigger boon for Spotify. A Spotify spokesperson confirmed Tuesday that the music will be made available to anyone who has signed up for a free or paid Spotify account — which could drive new sign-ups for the music service.